Hey John Martin, The 1800s are a fascinating era to be alive in. Why not venture forth and discover the world? Wow, Mum, many thanks. This site is incredible. Who am I? My boy, tell me why you're in France. Here, we come up with wild new ideas about how to run a nation. Freedom, equality, and brotherhood. Whoa! Greetings from the United Kingdom. We created the train right here. Please board. Oh my god. My friend, you are in a German factory. Here, we use coal and fire to make all of these hot lederhosen. This is amazing. I'm eager to find out where I'll wind up next. Who am I? In Russia, that is. Have I traveled across time? No, this is simply the situation. Do you work on a farm? Worse, technically, my landlord owns me which makes me a serf. I'm scared. You should be because I haven't eaten in four days and you look pretty tasty. Hey John Martin, how were your travels? I hate you. (soft melodic music) Russia, in the 19th century. Feudal, underdeveloped, and stuck in the past. While the rest of Europe had been modernizing and improving their citizens' lives. Russia's rulers were taking a different approach. My Lord, we're falling behind the rest of Europe. It's time to industrialize. Give the people rights and share your power. (loud bomb exploding) Russian Tsars had no time for pathetic ideas like liberty and modernization because they were too busy having the time of their lives while the serfs were breaking their backs in the fields, the Tsars held all the power and they didn't have to listen to anyone. Wanna run the country like a backward feudal kingdom while the rest of your pack paces humanitarian and economically, go right ahead. Wanna keep the people educated so they don't get any ideas? There's no one to stop you. Wanna keep exporting grain even when there's a massive famine causing hundreds of thousands to die?
Your right to do so is something that God has granted you. The Tsar, however, enjoyed everything. Since Russia was lagging behind, it probably sucked if you were literally anyone else. A strong leader with bold ideas would be necessary for them to keep up with Europe. Oh, look—here's another one. I'm Tsar Alexander the Second, and I have some major news to share with you all. All of you are now freed from your serfdom. Everyone among you is unbound. Yep, I'm the best, the crow chirps. Oh, I forgot to mention something. When I spoke to your local lords, they expressed their displeasure at losing all of their free labor. thus, as a compromise, you're all gonna have to pay them back in a nearly impossible amount of money for the next 49 years. Expect your lives to barely change. Okay, bye. Now, I know what you're thinking. This Tsar Alexander the Second seems like a pretty cool guy. He's trying to reform the country and get Russia on the right path. Everyone must love this guy, right, or wrong. Why does one man get to decide the fate of everyone in the country? This whole system is dumped. Somebody should do something. Like what? Like, kill the Tsar. Are you gonna kill the Tsar? Well me, no, I'm busy. I was kind of hoping you'd do it, okay? See the people love me. They're throwing flowers, confetti, and high-grade explosives. (bomb exploding loudly) Okay, Nicholas, your grandfather has a mild case of being blown up by a terrorist and he's not looking too hot. So we're gonna go say our goodbyes, okay? No, it'll be too scary for him. Nonsense, it won't be scary at all. We're just gonna say a quick goodbye, ready? Boy, look at me. The people did this to me and one day, they'll do it to you! See it wasn't scary at all. So, Alexander, the second was dead, but luckily they had another Alexander lying around. Alexander the Third felt his dad's reforms had weakened the Tsar's authority. Russia was massive. And as a result, had many ethnic minorities. Non-Russians are more interested in their own cultural heritage than in loving me, isn't it great? So much beautiful culture and diversity in our great nation. (bomb exploding loudly) Alexander thought all these minorities should be a little more Russian and thereby loyal to him. So he repressed religious minorities. He repressed non-Russians. He introduced the Okhrana. A secret police force that repressed anybody who thought having a Tsar was dumb. If Alexander the Second was the great reformer Alexander the Third was the great repressor.
That is how a nation should be run, now. Hi, Dad. Oh my goodness, it's Nicholas, my son, who I like to refer to as a girlie girl because he's so feeble and pitiful. When will you become an adult? To me, you still have a girly girl appearance. But Father, I developed a beard. Yes, it's a hideous girly girl beard. (exclaiming sobs) if Nicholas became the Tsar someday. He needed his father to show him how to govern a nation. His father, however, advised Nicholas to go somewhere else. Thus, Nicholas traveled to Japan to get an aggressive dragon tattoo. came home after a police officer chopped off his head. Will you now show me the ways of the king? It's probably time now. Alright, there's, there's a lot you need to know before becoming Tsar, uh oh, what? I've got kidney inflammation. Oh no. Upon his father's death, a totally unprepared Nicholas the Second ascended to the Russian throne. He wasn't a reformer like his grandfather nor was he a repressor like his dad. Nicholas was Nicholas. Timid, easily swayed, and more interested in doing whatever the hell this is or this or this. He wasn't ready to rule. And he himself admitted it saying I'm not yet ready to be Tsar. I know nothing of the business of ruling. Bit of an awkward time to bring it up. However, Nicholas firmly believed that he was chosen by God to be Russia's big daddy. And while he doubted his ability to rule, he was gonna give it his best shot. And hey, who knows? Maybe he wouldn't be so bad after all. To get things off to a good start. Nicholas promised free pretzels and beer to a huge crowd in Moscow to celebrate his coronation. So enticing a proposition to starve peasants that the ensuing stampede left nearly 1500 people dead. What the hell happened? We're not sure, but you're scheduled to go party with the French at eight o'clock. Shouldn't I stay here out of respect for the people? When have Russian Tsars ever respected the people? (upbeat music) Nicholas's decision to go party with the French immediately tarnished his image. Some were calling him Nicholas the Bloody. The Tsars had been partying hard at the expense of the people for long enough that emancipated the serfs but failed to lift them out of poverty. They used their secret police to crack down on anyone who might criticize them and they had failed to modernize and give the people rights. Something the rest of Europe had begun doing over a century ago.
As the Tsars' reign grew more and more outmoded, more and more Russians started to consider whether there might be a better way. The answer was straightforward for many. Just take a look at the West; there are countless republics, democracies, and constitutional monarchies. A tiny but rising faction, however, rejected that in favor of a superior notion they dubbed communism. Consider Vladimir Lenin, a middle-class intellectual from Russia who was also a colossal jerk. He wasn't scared to call you out if you didn't agree with him on something. Tenderheart Bear is a much better care bear than Bedtime Bear, you fat-headed simple-minded vacuous cockeyed moron. (exclaiming sobs) Additionally, he was not unfamiliar with political unrest. His older brother was executed for plotting to kill the Tsar and Lenin himself was expelled from university for participating in a student protest. But how did Lenin go from being a middle-class nerd to the arbiter of socialist divinity? Well, to tell that story, we first need to go back a few decades to when a man named Karl Marx, wrote a manifesto explaining how capitalism is a system where the stinky British oppressed and exploded the working masses and that only through class warfare, could the workers rise up and estate a communist utopia. Now go back forward a few decades to Lenin reading that manifesto and loving it. But publicly admitting you loved Marx and not Russia's big daddy would get you the cruelest punishment imaginable, exile to Siberia. Enjoy exile where you'll live with your wife chill around town and secretly write socialists newspapers. Hey, that doesn't sound so bad. And your mother-in-law's going to live with you, no! Once Lenin finished his stint in Siberia. He left Russia for Europe where he was free to hang out with other Russian Marxists and talk about how great communism was. Now today, you might hear the word communism and think of this. (dramatic orchestral music) But that's not how intellectuals living under a Tsarist regime saw it. To them, communism promised a land where all were equal, where workers weren't exploited and even people like you could get a girlfriend. So Lenin joined a party of Russian communists living in Europe and he founded a communist newsletter that was smuggled into Russia to try to radicalize the people. However, not everyone in the socialist party agreed with Lenin. In fact, they disagreed with him on a lot of issues and Lenin was so uncompromising that he caused a split in the party.
During one conference, a heated debate broke out and Lenin was unwilling to give an inch. You pig-ignorant, half-witted fatuous morons, cereal is a soup. Listen, Lenin, you're a smart guy, but you have no idea what you're talking about. We're out of here. All in favor of cereal being a soup. Hey, would you look at that, we're in the majority. So Lenin set up his own faction within the party. He called the Majority or Bolshevik if you're speaking Russian and the other faction became known as the Minority or Menshevik. And oddly, the majority were often in the Minority and the minority in the Majority. The Mensheviks were less radical. Whereas Lenin wanted the Bolsheviks to be loyal to him and his uncompromising ideas. And if you weren't loyal well then you're gonna get a big brain beat down. Mensheviks worried that Lenin's attitude could lead to a one-man dictatorship, but come up, does this guy look like a dictator to you? For now, Lenin remained in Europe, writing his socialist newspaper and impatiently awaiting an opportunity to overthrow the Tsar and bring a communist utopia to Russia. Cool, a free hat. Who the heck are you? I'm definitely not a Russian secret police officer spying on Marxists. Oh crap, I don't want the secret police watching me. Now, where was I? Oh yeah, a timid easily swayed Tsar, a massive ill-tempered jerk impatiently awaiting a communist revolution. And the revolution was coming, but not in the way Lenin thought. Back in St. Petersburg. One of the Tsar's most skilled and influential advisors knew the country finally needed to catch up with the rest of Europe. Hey Nick, we really got to industrialize. Get more factories and make some I don't know, textiles or something. Won't that change the social fabric of Russia? Maybe, hey isn't it past your bedtime? But I haven't had my milk and snuggles yet. Will you snuggle me? Nicholas thought modernization was boring. But he let Sergei do his thing and do the thing he did. He borrowed some money and got Russia some sexy factories. And you know what sexy factories mean, sexy workers, dirt poor, sexy workers. Long hours, low wages, filthy disease-ridden factories, sleep in overcrowded dormitories with all your stinky worker friends. Get your arms ripped off in a freak Russian dole accident conditions were terrible. But this growing working class wasn't about to take it lying down.
They started to do what workers do best, strike. Despite Sergei's efforts, people in Russia still weren't happy. Peasants were still poor, and liberals still wanted reform. And now the workers wanted better working conditions. And the problem with being an autocrat is that when everyone's unhappy there's only one person to blame, you. The people hate me, what do I do? Ooh, I know, why don't we find a weak and pathetic nation to go to war with? We'll win easily and everyone will love me again. Why don't we just try treating the people better? As luck would have it. An opportunity for war was forming in the Far East. Russia wanted to expand its sphere of influence into Northern China and coincidentally, so did Japan. But Japan didn't really want war. So they proposed an idea to reduce the tension. Hey, man, we'll let you do your thing in Manchuria. If you let us do our thing in Korea. I don't think so. We've got the largest army in the world, what do you have? I'm the Emperor of Japan, I have a giant Mecha suit. Whoa, cool. Nicholas and the boys didn't see Japan as a threat. So they felt they could push Japan around. But little did they know Japan had been rapidly militarizing. And when they launched a surprise attack on a Russian fleet at Port Arthur, everyone was shocked. Nicholas hoped it was an opportunity to win a quick war and regain the support of the people. Nobody seriously thought a puny Asian country could defeat a European superpower. And the Russian people were filled with patriotic spunk. Hey everyone, we're at war with Japan. (crowd cheering loudly) (whispering quietly) Hey everyone, we're losing the war. (crowd booing loudly) The Japanese won, an embarrassing defeat for Tsar Nicholas. Russia had enough problems but now it had been internationally humiliated. The public was outraged, and unrest increased. Nicholas needed snuggles now more than ever.
The tension was rising rapidly and Russia was on the verge of revolution. All it needed was one disaster to push it over the edge. And that disaster would come in January 1905 from an unlikely source a handsome Orthodox priest named Father Gapon, Father Gapon was leading workers and their families to the winter palace. But this wasn't some violent uprising, it was a peaceful protest. They wanted to deliver a petition to Nicholas which simply asked for more freedom and better working conditions. The protest was actually so peaceful and respectful that the Marxists thought it was a big waste of time. Hey Nicholas, some priest is leading a peaceful protest. It says here they wanna give you a petition. A peaceful petitioning priest, I better get out of here. Nicholas had actually left the winter palace days earlier and in his place, they brought in a truckload of troops ordered to stop Father Gapon from reaching the palace. Hello good, sir, and long lived the Tsar. Please, allow me to pass this simple petition to our dear Father Nicholas the Second. Good day to you please, allow us to respond by opening fire. (gun fired loudly) What began as a peaceful protest ended in tragedy. Imperial soldiers opened fire on the crowd. Around 200 civilians died 800 more were wounded. All they wanted was the opportunity to ask Nicholas to improve their lives. Instead, they were met with bullets. Nicholas didn't personally order the troops to fire, but as an autocrat, he got the blame. The event became known as Bloody Sunday and Nicholas's reputation plummeted. Strikes erupted across the empire, workers' demands increased, liberals demanded political power, and peasants demanded law.
The country was out of control and the 1905 revolution had begun. Listen Nicholas peasants seizing my land and murdering my family, I can tolerate, but illegally chopping my wood, that's obscene and the worse I treat my workers, the more they strike, I don't get it. Everyone relax, as long as the military is still on my side there's nothing to worry about. Sir, the sailors are starting to mutiny. Well, my life just sucks. With Russia still losing to the Japanese unrest was growing in the military. And some sailors had even taken to killing officers. Having the people against you is bad enough, but if the military joined in, it would be game over. To make matters worse, in October workers in Marxists including one Leon Trotsky began setting up local elected councils called Soviets that coordinated strikes and supplied the workers. Sergei could see the writing on the wall. Things were going south fast and he needed a big idea to save the Tsar. And luckily he had just that. You see all these angry people from different parts of society weren't really working together. Meaning there was a weakness to exploit. Sergei wrote a manifesto that would give the liberals an elected assembly called the Duma. It took some convincing but eventually, Nicholas agreed to share power and have his laws approved by an elected assembly. Hey liberals, here's your stupid manifesto, happy now? We certainly are. But what about these guys? Aren't you gonna give them what they want? Oh goodness no. I was just gonna kill them. With the liberals satisfied and after ending the war with Japan. The Tsar thousands of troops home who then dismantled the Soviets arrested their leaders, and crushed the peasant uprisings in the countryside. And how about that pesky parliament Nicholas had agreed to share power with? Well, he then wrote a bunch of new laws which basically said, hey, remember that manifesto I wrote and how you guys were going to approve my laws? Slight change of plan. Actually, I'm gonna do whatever the hell I want. And you guys are gonna shut up. What, the people won't stand for this? People, what people?
This is why people don't like you. And just like that Nicholas had survived the 1905 revolution but wait a revolution in Russia, where was Lenin? Well, Lenin and his communist pals were still in exile. He tried desperately to radicalize the uprising but all he could do was watch as the movements failed to organize the liberals sold out the poor and the Tsar played the people. Furious, he believed Russia had missed a great chance for a real revolution. From now on, he felt the only way left was an armed revolution by the workers. Watching the events of 1905 unfold Lenin learnt a lot. The Tsar, however, would prove to have learned nothing. After the 1905 revolution had failed. The Tsar's new top man was Pyotr Stolypin and he had big ideas to prevent any more chaos. Step one, reform agriculture this'll make the peasants love you. And step two, we'll kill anyone who doesn't. To discourage any more revolutionary ideas Stolypin began to crack down even harder on the Tsar's opponents and thousands were sentenced to death. The news even earned itself a new nickname, Stolypin's Necktie, I don't get it. Oh, I see. 'Cause it goes around my neck and that's so funny. But despite the depression, many positive reforms were also being made and the Russian economy even began to improve. This was a problem for Lenin. If the people weren't suffering then they wouldn't support a revolution. Still in exile and lacking funds, the Bolsheviks simply weren't in a position to do anything. Luckily it was around this time that Lenin met an incredibly handsome Georgian with your second favorite historical mustache, Joseph Stalin. Lenin and Stalin met at a communist convention in Finland and Lenin liked Stalin because he was a real go-getter and was great at fundraising for the Bolsheviks and by fundraising I mean kidnapping, robbing, extorting, bribing, ransoming, assassinating, prison breaking, stealing, bank raiding, executing and stealing again. He's Stalin the Mensheviks aren't so hot in all this stealing, but we still need money. So the next time you do a big heist, just do it quietly. Okay, quietly, got it. (guns firing loudly) If this isn't quiet, I don't know what it is. Stalin's wacky antics eventually got him exiled to Siberia but he had established himself as a big-balls Bolshevik. However, no amount of Bolshevik balls could stop what was happening. The Russian economy was making a recovery. For the Tsar, things were looking up. This is great. All Nicholas has to do is sit back and not mess anything up. Hey everyone, big news. I'd like to introduce you to my new best friend. He's a crazy, drunken, beardy, horny, scandal-ridden magic wizard, man. And he smells like a goat. We're screwed. Rasputin, a dirt poor peasant from dirt poor nowhere. But unlike all the other dirt-poor peasants, Rasputin had holy healing powers. And when this holy mystic wandered into St. Petersburg, people began to notice. He quickly became famous and word this mystery man and his healing hands made their way to the royal palace.
The appearance of a holy homeless healer was of great interest to the Tsar and his wife. As far as worlds go, they weren't that bred but they were just inbred enough for their son Alexe to get hemophilia or in layman's terms, mama mia, that's a lot of blood. Knowing Rasputin could heal people, in 1906, Alexandra asked for Rasputin to come and see if he could cure their son, and crazy as it sounds Rasputin did heal Alexei, possibly by taking him off his doctor-prescribed aspirin. Having seemingly done the impossible Rasputin became very, very close to the royal family but having a crazy homeless wizard man hanging around wasn't a good look for the Tsar because Rasputin was freaky. Not only was he a big fan of alcohol but he'd also throw these crazy parties with Russian nobility. (beeping loudly) And nobody knew how the goat got on the roof. Initially, the press was banned from talking about Rasputin but eventually, the ban was lifted and the tabloids went to town. The whole thing was a huge scandal and everyone was freaked out that this guy was influencing the Tsar and his wife. Nicholas could have spent this period of relative peace improving his image. Instead, he spent it doing this, but as weird as the whole Rasputin thing was so long as the economy continued to improve and the people's lives kept getting better, maybe Nick would be okay. Maybe there would be no more revolutions. Maybe this video could even end right here or maybe things were about to get worse, a lot worse. You see the year 1914, and that means it's for World War One.
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